AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CHAIRMAN & MEMBERS OF UN
SECURITY COUNCIL
BY: THE SUDANESE JUSTICE & EQUALITY MOVEMENT AND
Hon. Chairman
and Hon. Members of United Nations Security Council
Attention: H.E. Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary general of
the United Nations
After more than nine months from the date of the UN
Security Council resolutions whereby the issue of
Such circumstances require from the Security Council
to take more effective and speedier actions with stronger content which would
change the current, tragic realities of
Dear Ladies & Gentlemen
The accelerating tension on the joint Sudanese Chadian
borders negatively affects the security and humanitarian situations as well as
the peace negotiations, especially in the presence of armed foreign elements
inside the Sudan, with all the deep implications of this, in the light of known
international law principles, on the discussions relating to the security
arrangements paper at the peace talks.
The two Movements: the
Sudanese Justice & Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation
Movement (SLM), remained firmly committed to the agreements so far reached,
despite the grievances of thousands of Darfurian young men and women in arms
who are members of the two movements, and despite the Sudan Government torched
land policy and forced migration for the last three years in a row. Such
commitment of the two Movements (JEM & SLM) took the form of disciplined
patience unmatched, both regionally and internationally, in the history of
armed liberation movements, especially in the case of land-locked conflicts as
it is in
Ladies & Gentlemen
The Sudanese crisis in
Unfortunately, our earlier vow
to attain peace before the dawn of the New Year has been countered by the
Government’s persistent and intentional enforcement of its erroneous
understanding of what a solution is. It believes in imposing its own terms of
reference, while intentionally ignoring all previous agreements including the
Declaration of Principles signed in
Ladies & Gentlemen
Here are the basic pillars of
the sort of security arrangements which, in our vision, would furnish an
atmosphere conducive for voluntary repatriation of the refugees and the IDPs to
their original areas, where they can run their normal lives in full serenity,
and put an end to injustice and protect comprehensive peace:
1- Disarming the Janjaweed,
disbanding them and trying their leaders.
2- Restructuring, reforming
and development of all the formations of Sudanese armed forces so that they
reflect the Sudanese diversity at all its levels.
3- Retaining the armed forces
of the two Movements during the interim period to be agreed upon, in order to
secure the implementation of the peace agreement.
4- The unconditional and easy
flow of relief materials through all borders and entry points.
5- Reinstatement and equitable
compensation of all those dismissed from any of the regular forces.
6- The release of all
prisoners of war, detainees, convicted or imprisoned for political, ethnic,
racial or religious reasons or for any reason related to the conflict in
7- Conducting speedy and
equitable compensation for the affected people according to international
standards.
With regard to the
distribution of power, we had a clear and obvious vision, based on a realistic
method in dealing with the issues in the light of agreed upon criteria agreed
upon during the sixth round of talks. We have even transcended our own
specificities to broader national issues which reflect similar situations in
other regions of the
Despite its deep logic, this
vision has been countered by the Sudanese Government, which remained as a blocking
obstacle despite our later limitation of such vision to the region of
Ladies and Gentlemen
With regard to the
distribution of wealth the situation is no better in any way, except for a
slight progress in relation to some technical issues and some general policies
and frameworks on the concept of wealth. These have however fell short of
touching on the heart of the issue of international, national and regional
wealth allocation, including time frames, mechanisms, funds and administrative
systems, on the basis of the pre-agreed criteria. The meager extent to which
the Government could so far go with regard to this area of negotiations, both
in relation to “how?” and “how much?” it can concede, will certainly not help
in the mammoth task of reconstructing and rehabilitating a region which has
been underdeveloped for decades, with the war devastating whatever is left.
Notwithstanding our deep
appreciation of the efforts being exerted by all of you and the nations and
organizations you represent for the cause of Darfur, we believe that this
matter still requires special attention by Your Excellencies, meaning effective
pressure on the Government of Sudan, for it to show enough seriousness to
become a real partner in the peace-making process, by honoring its commitments,
instead of relying on any relinquished attention of the international community
and the implications of its tensions with Chad, let alone the expected cunning
exploitation of the African Union Summit, in case it takes place in Khartoum,
as an opportune atmosphere to impose its military and security solution,
leading to a recurrence of the tragedy over again.
African mediation process will
also need to be revitalized and reactivated, reinforced and reoriented.
We, on our part, hereby
reaffirm our commitments and abidance by all the agreements to which we are
signatories, and shall remain persistent partners in the peacemaking and
peace-implementing processes.
With our kindest regards.
Sincerely,
Justice & Equality Movement
(JEM)